Fuel Scoop
A Fuel Scoop is a module that is attached to a ship's Internal Compartment slot and allows for the filling of a ship's internal fuel reserves with hydrogen while in space, for free. This module is a critical device for any exploration-oriented pilot, as it allows for much faster travel without a need to dock for fuel, and no reliance on a system to be inhabited. A ship with a fuel scoop can theoretically travel in unknown regions of space indefinitely. The hydrogen is gathered from a star's corona directly, whereas larger and higher quality scoops allow for faster fuel harvesting. Fuel scoops will activate automatically so long as they are powered, and both deploy and retract on their own with a displayed HUD indicator showing ship heat status and rate of fuel-gathering. Great care must be taken when using fuel scoops, as it requires a ship to be in Supercruise inside of the corona of a stellar mass, which subjects the vessel to intense heat from the star. Flying too close can easily overheat a ship to the point of equipment damage, or force a ship out of supercruise while overheating, which is a dangerous proposition considering escape back into supercruise subjects the ship to even more heat. It is advisable to upgrade the ship's Power Plant since it will help the ship dissipate heat when fuel scooping. It is important to note that a ship must only be in supercruise while scooping fuel; it is not required that the ship be travelling at more than minimum speed. In such a case, a pilot can place their ship close enough to a star to scoop without being too close to risk overheating, and simply set their engines to minimum and wait for their fuel tank to fill. Flying around the star or doing 'strafing' runs is low efficiency and will take longer, and subjects the pilot to considerably more risk. Scoopable Stars An essential skill for any would be fuel scooper is the ability to identify stars which you can scoop fuel from. You don't want to end up stranded in a system that doesn't have a suitable star when you're running on fumes. The first thing you should do when plotting a route is check the INFO tab on the Galaxy Map. The one thing that is always available for any system regardless of exploration state is a list of Star Types contained within the system. If there are multiple star types in the system with at least one being scoopable, you need to be aware that you always jump in to the star with the largest mass and this is not necessarily the scoopable star. You may well jump in at a white dwarf (DA/DC) which has a much greater mass than a scoopable M-star in the same system. In this scenario you will need to search for the scoopable star so bear this in mind if you're running on fumes. One easy way to remember which stars are scoopable is to remember the phrase: O'h '''B'e '''A F'ine '''G'irl 'K'iss 'M'e (O,B,A,F,G,K,M). An alternative phrase is '''KGB FOAM or FOG KBAM. Specifications Notes * Increasing the class and possibly integrity increases the amount of fuel scooped per second. * Only one can be equipped at a time. Category:Equipment